


Shots On Goal II

by Denois



Series: Drabblefest 2019 [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon typical alcohol use, Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and stuff, Future Fic, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Nursey POV, bed sharing, jotober, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 10:33:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 17,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20872757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: Drabble fills for Jotober 2019Featuring NurseyDex from Nursey's POV.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day one prompt: Ring

Nursey stared at the ad. Clicking it would be a mistake. He wasn’t sure why this ad was targeted at him. Two weeks ago, he’d been pining and the ads had been for dating sites, and yachts, and hoodies.

Then, somehow, he’d actually started dating Dex. He hadn’t updated his relationship status. He hadn’t posted anything about the relationship. He didn’t want to jinx it. 

And yet, the ads had updated.

And the ads were trying to get him in trouble. 

Clicking the link would be a mistake. He knew this, in the very center of his being. But his mouse cursor hovered over the ad anyway.

Because if they kept working on communicating, there’s nothing he and Dex couldn’t face together. Because when he thought about the future, it was always with one hand laced with Dex’s. Because yes, that ring actually would look amazing on Dex’s finger.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2 Prompt: Mindless

Everyone had expectations for Nursey. His whole life, he was expected to be certain things. He was rich, so he had to have potential and manners. He was tall and strong so he had to be athletic and play a sport. He was black so he had to be aggressive or chill. When he could, he chose which expectation to fill. But he couldn’t always. 

And sometimes, he didn’t want to fill the expectation at all.

He was attractive, so he had to be mindless.

Not many people knew that he hated being complimented on his looks. The compliments always seemed to be tinged with the expectation that he shouldn’t be smart, too. Either his intelligence was ignored, or it was a shame it was there at all because it detracted from his looks. 

He liked looking good, he worked hard at it, but it wasn’t the most important thing about him. 

But now, now Dex had asked him out. Now they were in Dex’s car driving towards Boston. Dex kept looking at him when he thought that Nursey wasn’t looking. And Nursey was afraid he knew that look. 

He wasn’t sure where they were going; Dex had said it was a surprise. Dex had said to dress comfortably and wear comfortable shoes. 

Nursey guessed maybe a Bruins game.

Then Dex parked at the Commons Parking Garage and shoved his hands into his pockets before leading the way down the street away from the train that would take them to TD Garden.

Nursey was so busy watching Dex and being confused about the complete lack of proprietary body language that he was used to on dates like these, that he didn’t realize where they were going until Dex stopped and opened the door for him.

“You brought me to the library?”

Dex hunched his shoulder and started blushing. “It’s got art and exhibits too. But also a bunch of rare books and stuff. I guess it’s not as good as the New York Public Library. But, I mean. I guess.” He fumbled for a bit before pausing and looking around like the walls had the words he wanted. “You’re wicked smart, right? And you like books and literature and stuff. And maybe it’s not as good, but maybe it’s still good and it was a dumb idea. You don’t have to stay. I’ll take you back. But like, I thought. This or the Longfellow House, right? And Longfellow was a poet, but I don’t think he was your kind of poet. So, this is supposed to be one of the top places to go in Boston if you love books. And you love books. And I…” He let the words hang in the air and clamped his mouth shut.

Nursey couldn’t stop staring at him. “You looked up places to take me based on the fact I like books.”

Dex did a nod and shrug combination that smoothly indicated “of course.”

“You realize that bringing me to look at books means that I’ll be spending hours focused on books instead of you.” 

“Ayuh. There’s places to sit and wait.”

“Was this the whole plan?”

Dex shrugged again. “When you get done, figured we’d eat at one of the places on the street. And if the swan boats are still open then we could go out on one of those, but if not, maybe just look at the ducklings and the frog pond if you want. That was about it.”

“Contingencies in case I keep you here past 5 PM.” Nursey looked at his phone, even though he already knew it was probably still before noon.

“Ayuh. You like books.”

“William Poindexter, what I like, what I would like, is to kiss you now.”

Dex looked up at him sharply. “Yeah?”

Nursey didn’t bother answering, just stepped forward to press a soft, lingering kiss to Dex’s lips. He briefly considered doing it again and again, but then he remembered that Dex brought him here for the books, so he grabbed Dex’s hand and laced their fingers together as they walked further into the library.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3 prompt: Bait
> 
> This was not supposed to be this long. >.<

The first time Derek Nurse saw William Poindexter, he wrote him off as an average white hockey jock. Nice ass, but nothing special. Hockey hot at best.

The problem with William Poindexter was that one didn’t notice how hot he was because his face was always guarded. Which meant that the first time Nursey realized how much he liked looking at Dex was at the dining hall on a random Tuesday morning. The Frogs were sitting at a table near an East facing window and the early sunlight turned Dex into rose gold and polished copper. 

Nursey had promptly tripped and spilled cereal all down Dex’s back.

As tempting as it would have been to claim that it was a trick of the sunlight, that Dex was attractive _in the right light_, Nursey had been trying not to lie to himself. So, once he acknowledged that Dex was attractive, he had to acknowledge that he had been having to drag his eyes away from Dex for awhile. Dex was just attractive, full stop. 

Which would have been a much more pleasant realization if Nursey wasn’t certain that Dex was straight. And if Dex hadn’t made it clear what he thought about dating prep school kids and hipsters when Nursey tried to set him up with a Winter Screw date. 

Nursey only ever made good decisions, so he quickly decided that the best way to deal with his unrequitable crush was to try to bait Dex into arguments. If he and Dex were fighting again, then he wouldn’t find Dex attractive. It was a flawless plan.

The problem with William Poindexter was that for someone who was always guarded and wary, he seemed to know when Nursey was baiting him and avoided the arguments with only an eyeroll. 

“You miss me, Poindexter?”

Dex looked at him for a moment before replying. “No.”

“You’re always free to skype me.” Nursey grinned in response.

They went their separate ways, but then Dex showed up at his dorm later.

“Hey, uh. I just wanted to talk.” Dex looked odd. Nervous maybe.

“Chill.” Nursey stepped back and let Dex into the room. 

Dex glanced around briefly and pressed his lips together as he turned back towards Nursey. Nursey guessed he was refraining from making a comment, but he wasn’t sure what.

“Look, I know your high school wasn’t anything like mine, but if the guys on your team were anything like the guys on mine, then they were that weird kind of homophobic where they ignore the gay implications things could have because how could anyone be gay, right? But with Bitty being out here, some of the guys might start thinking that you aren’t chirping me. That you’re flirting. And I know that’s wicked dumb. But still. Just, thought I should point it out before you get accused of trying to flirt with me.” Dex managed to run his hand through his hair no less than five times during his speech.

Nursey managed to pay at least as much attention to the words as he paid to Dex’s fingers and hair. “Chill.”

“Ayuh. I know. It’s absurd to think that Derek Nurse would flirt with the goofy looking poor kid from Maine. But, the chance is there. So. Yeah.” Dex shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets before moving like he was going to leave.

The problem with William Poindexter was that, sometimes, he surprised Nursey and then was ready to leave before Nursey had a chance to process his thoughts. Nursey moved to stand in front of the door.

“Uh. That’s all I wanted to say, so, I’ll just go.”

“Wait. Oh shit. I mean-” Nursey moved out of the way of the door. “You don’t have to stay, obvs. But give me a minute, ‘kay? Chill?”

Dex shrugged and rocked back on his heels while looking at one of the art prints on Nursey’s wall. 

Nursey replayed Dex’s speech in his mind. He thought about the way Dex scoffed when he said “how could anyone be gay, right?”. He thought about how he specifically referred to Bitty as out, not gay. He thought about how Dex didn’t seem upset by the idea of Nursey flirting with him. He thought about how Dex seemed to think Nursey flirting with him was impossible. 

“You don’t sound like you care if I am flirting with you.”

Dex shrugged again. “Some people sport flirt with friends. Not because they like them. Or maybe you’re just doing it to chirp me about my crush or whatever. Like I said, I know it’s wicked absurd that anyone would think you meant it, but they might. It’s whatever. Okay? I just didn’t know if you’d thought about what it might do to your reputation.”

“What if I did mean it, Poindexter?”

Dex looked at him sharply and seemed to be searching his face. Nursey reached out slowly, to touch Dex’s arm. 

“What if I want to kiss you?”

Dex continued to stare, wide-eyed, before finally nodding once.

The problem with William Poindexter was that he was a really great kisser and Nursey didn’t get anything else done that day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 4 Prompt: Freeze

Nursey woke up when it was still dark and shivered. He pulled the blanket tighter around himself and squeezed his eyes back shut. Maybe he could go back to sleep. He was freezing, and the wind was rattling some windows, and it was an unfamiliar bed. These all conspired to keep him awake, which meant he’d be aware of the fact he was freezing and in Dex’s bed in Dex’s house.

He shouldn’t be there. He should be in New York. He should be in his own bed. But Dex had invited him and he’d agreed, ignoring the part of his brain that said visiting the family of his crush for the holidays was a bad idea. Now he was going to freeze to death in Maine on his first night there.

The bed dipped and he froze. Except for the shivering because he was still freezing. Then the shivering abated somewhat as additional weight settled over his body. Again and again. 

One big draft came through, sending icy fingers of cold air up his spine and he shuddered before it was replaced with the warmth of bare skin.

“Poindexter?”

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing?”

“You were shivering, so I got the spare blankets for you.” 

“Chill. But what are you doing?”

This time Dex froze. “Um, I was cuddling you again. Do you want me to leave? I can. You probably only pulled me in because of the eggnog.”

Dex started moving and Nursey grabbed his wrist before he lifted the blankets and let in the icy air again.

“I didn’t say to leave. Just...explain what you’re talking about.”

Dex groaned and Nursey felt Dex’s forehead hit the top of his back. “You don’t remember last night.”

“I plead the fifth.”

“I knew you had too much eggnog to consent. I knew it.”

“Chill. Consent to what?”

“The things you were suggesting when you pulled me into the bed.” 

Somehow, Nursey could hear the blush that was spreading down Dex’s neck and chest.

“Chill.” He meant it. He couldn’t think of anything that he’d suggest, even drunk, that he’d regret doing with Dex. He did kind of regret not remembering it. “Could you refresh my memory though?”

“We cuddled, Nurse. We cuddled and we fell asleep. Until I woke up because you were shivering.” 

Nursey nodded. That made sense. Dex would have blushed and brushed aside Nursey’s advances. He’d done it at kegsters plenty of times. 

“Go back to sleep. I think my ma plans to keep planning the wedding with you in the morning.”

“Ok. Chill.” He snuggled down, letting go of Dex’s arm and getting comfortable. “Wait, what wedding?”

“You really don’t remember anything. Fuck.”

“I’m sorry.” 

“It’s. Look, it’s fine. I just. Nevermind. It doesn’t matter what I thought. You’re gonna have to deal with my ma still. So.” Dex paused and groaned, clenching the fingers of the hand still laying across Nursey’s side. 

“I made baklava for dessert. Along with everyone else, you’d already been drinking eggnog by the time I brought it out. You declared it the best thing you’d ever eaten and asked me to marry you. Of course, you didn’t mean it. But you were drunk and insisted that you did. And my ma was tipsy enough to join you in planning our wedding. That’s pretty much it until I helped you up to my room and you pulled me into the bed instead of letting me sleep on the floor. You said that-” Dex paused again.

“You said that fiancés should share a bed. Then you said other things fiancés could do and I said that fiancés can just cuddle. There. You’re caught up. Even though I’ll probably have to tell you again in the morning.” Dex groaned. “Goodnight, Nurse.”

When Nursey woke again, it was morning and the bed was empty, but still warm. More importantly, he could smell food cooking and had a good guess where Dex had disappeared to. After getting dressed and ready, he headed downstairs to where Dex’s ma was sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee. Dex only gave him the briefest of glances before setting another cup of coffee on the table for him and returning to the food on the stove.

“So.” Dex’s ma looked at him over the rim of her cup. “Still planning on marrying my boy?”

Dex groaned. “Ma. Stop chirping him. He was drunk. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Nursey raised his eyebrows and then turned back towards Dex’s ma. “Actually, yes. You know, he noticed I was shivering last night and brought me extra blankets? You raised a provider, a real gentleman.”

Dex groaned again. “Great. Now we are chirping me.”

Dex’s ma put set her coffee down. “Don’t worry about him. He just hasn’t realized you aren’t joking yet.”

“But you have?”

“I knew when you walked into this house.” Her expression briefly hardened into one he’d seen on Chowder’s face when he was between the pipes. Then her expression softened. “But you’ll have to spell it out for my son. He has trouble believing things.”

“Ma, stop it. Nursey, ignore her.” Dex turned from the counter holding two plates of food which he set on the table in front of each of them before turning back for his own.

Nurse waited until he sat down. “Dex, you can’t blame me being drunk now. Will you go out with me?”

Dex stared at him, frozen with a forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5 prompt: Build

Nursey stared at the pieces in his hands, then back at the instructions on the floor next to him. He moved his hands and the pieces separated.

"I don’t get it. I inlägg-ed the screw. I skruv-ed the skrew. Why is it not fästad-ed?" 

He looked at the leg of the piece. The screw was still through the appropriate, pre-formed hole. He looked at the shelf he was attaching. The screw was not attaching the shelf to the leg. It was not fästad-ed at all. 

A thump sounded next to him and he looked up to see Dex dropping his bag. 

“You aren’t bracing the nut that you’re screwing into.” 

Nursey looked at the parts around him. “How do you know that?”

“Because once upon a time, I put together my first piece of furniture too.” Dex paused. “Is that my toolbox?”

“No.” Nursey shoved the toolbox behind his back where the WJP initials wouldn’t be visible.

Dex pressed his lips together and sighed. “They give you the allen key that you need.” He picked up the instructions and glanced over them. “And it looks like they provided you with a wrench too. So you shouldn’t need any extra tools. Except me.”

“Did you just call yourself a tool, Dexy?”

Dex rolled his eyes and pointed to the top of the instructions. “Step one, don’t try to put it together by yourself, have help.”

“You put things together by yourself.” 

“Yeah, well, I usually clamp them to a table to stand in for a helper. Here, I’ll stabilize, you attach the leg.” Dex positioned the shelf and held it steady.

Nursey felt the nut that he was screwing into turn. Dex handed him the provided wrench and he used that to hold it in place and to stop it from doing that as he screwed the bolt with the allen key. When he finished, the leg stayed attached. After that, it went much faster to connect the rest of the legs and then add the other shelves, the walls and doors, and the rolly wheels to the bottom

They stood back and looked at the completed work. The rolly cart was perfect. 

“So, now do I get to ask why you were building a rolling cart with my tools?”

“Happy Birthday, Dexy.”

“It’s for me?”

“Ch’yeah. You can put the tools you need on it or in it and roll it to your project instead of having to go back and forth or carry them from your workbench. Or, if you don’t want to use it for tools, it can be like a little extra rolling kitchen island to hold extra stuff in there. The website showed it both ways.”

“You built me something for my birthday?”

Nursey turned to look at Dex and found him looking back with an odd expression. “Chill. Yeah. Is that ok?” He licked his lips. He’d made the wrong choice. He should have bought one of the rolling pegboard carts he’d looked at. Those were fancy and probably more sturdy. They were just also more expensive and Dex was weird about that stuff.

“It’s perfect.” 

Then Dex’s arms were around his neck and Dex’s lips were on his lips and his own hands found their way into Dex’s back pockets and Nursey stopped worrying about having Dex help build his own present.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6 Prompt: Husky
> 
> I used a random number generator to chose which definition.

The corn making up the maze was far too husky. Somehow it kept managing to whip around and hit Nursey in the face and arms and he was sure that he was covered in cuts and welts from it. 

He stopped and looked around in the darkness. The maze branched and he wasn’t sure which way to go. He wasn’t sure how long ago he’d lost the rest of the team, but he was pretty sure that at this point his best bet was to try to make it out by himself and find them there. Jumping didn’t give him enough height to see over the corn and find the way out. Probably why they used corn in the first place. 

He stopped and tilted his head. If the corn was too tall to see over, even jumping, how had the husks been hitting him in the face earlier? Like, sure, it was only marketed as a haunted corn maze for Halloween. It wasn’t really haunted. They just had employees stationed in it to scare people. There weren’t real ghosts in the maze.

A hand grabbed his arm and he screamed.

“Nurse. It’s just me.”

Nursey opened one eye and looked at Dex. Once he was pretty sure that it was actually Dex and not some apparition using his likeness, he opened the other eye and straightened up. “I knew that.”

“Ayuh. I know.”

“Is the rest of the team coming this way now?” Nursey looked around Dex but didn’t see anyone.

“Nah. I noticed you were gone and figured you took off down a different path after the masked guy with a chainsaw.”

“You noticed I was gone.” Nursey tried to read Dex’s expression, but what was difficult in the day was impossible in the middle of a dark field at night.

Dex shoved his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders. “Ayuh.”

“And you came for me.”

“I’ll always come for you.”

Nursey didn’t stop to think, he grabbed the lapels of Dex’s coat and pulled him in so that he could kiss him. Thankfully, Dex kissed him back, pulling his hands from his pockets to rest them lightly on Nursey’s hips.

When Nursey finally broke the kiss, Dex stared at him, eyes wide and reflecting the faint moonlight. 

“What was that for?”

“You came for me.” Nursey cast a quick glance at the paths that they had to choose from. Maybe one led to a nice quiet, dark, dead end where they could make out for awhile.

Nursey felt Dex’s shrug under his hands still braced on Dex’s chest. 

“You’d have made it out eventually with or without my help. It’s not like they don’t have employees on all the branches to herd you towards the exits.”

“Oh, right. Chill.”

That must mean no quiet dead ends. 

“When are we going back to the Haus?”

“I think that the Waffles wanted to do the zombie apocalypse paintball run before we left.”

“Right.” 

Dex’s hand wrapped around his own, pulling it away from Dex’s chest. Briefly, he worried that Dex was trying to distance himself again. 

“But, if you wanted to do that again….” Dex trailed off and took a deep breath. “You could come down to the bungalow when we get back.” 

Nursey rearranged his hand until their fingers were laced together. “Chill.”

“Or, I mean, if you want. I don’t care if you kiss me in front of the team.”

“Chyeah?”

“I’d just rather not get kicked out of the haunted corn maze for public indecency or excessive displays of affection”

“You wanna be indecent with me in public, Poindexter?”

“No. Not in public.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 7 Prompt: Enchanted.

When Nursey found out that Dex had never seen “Enchanted” he took it upon himself to refer to Dex as Robert as often as humanly possible. Mostly while also referring to himself as Giselle to make sure Dex understood that he was being chirped in relation to a Disney movie.

Everything was fine for over a year. His comments were met with an eyeroll and the occasional question of how Nursey calling himself Giselle wasn’t a self-chirp (“Because she’s a princess, the main character, and a badass, Poindexter”). 

Then they were getting settled in their room on a roadie and Dex flipped through the channels for something to watch.

“Hey, Enchanted. You like that.” And he dropped the remote, letting the movie play, just like that.

“Nah, it’s chill, Poindexter. You said you don’t like Disney movies. Put a game on.” 

“Ayuh. But you love this movie. You’re always quoting it at me. Plus, now I’ll get to see who you cast me as. Top guesses right now are villain and bumbling flunky, but there’s always the potential for random inconsequential servant.”

Nursey wasn’t sure when they ended up laying next to each other on the same bed to watch the movie. He was pretty sure it was after “No wonder you like this movie, it’s set in your backyard” and after “How nice, you cast me as the guy who helps because his daughter insists.” (To which he’d replied “Ch’yeah, well, he tries to be friendly-ish. He’s just not good at it.” and Dex had rolled his eyes.) He was also pretty sure it was before “So, who is Edward?” (Which received a response of a shrug and “IDK, maybe Holster.” “Holster’s your true love? Interesting.”).

“Oh, chill. It’s pretty late, Poindexter. We should turn this off so we can get some sleep.”

Narissa was talking Giselle into eating the apple and everything was about to come crashing down.

“It’s almost over. I want to see how it ends.”

Nursey swallowed hard. Maybe he could go for ice or something. Then the true love’s kiss part happened and Dex just kept watching the movie. And Giselle took the sword and Dex’s brow furrowed, but he stayed quiet. 

At this point, Nursey was paying far more attention to Dex’s reactions than the movie, but he maintained his chill outward demeanor. 

Finally, the credits started rolling, and Dex still hadn’t said anything, so it looked like it could all blow over and Nursey’s crush could remain a secret. He dropped his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes.

The soft pressure of Dex’s lips on his was a shock and his eyes flew open. 

Dex leaned back and smiled. “So, true love’s kiss did work.”

Without thinking, Nursey reached up and pulled Dex back down for another kiss. When they finally separated again, he took the time to actually think. 

“Wait. Did you know that Robert was the love interest?”

Dex had the grace to blush. “I looked up the wikipedia article on the movie.”

“Chill. So all this was just to set up the kiss?”

Dex shrugged. “First I wanted to make sure I interpreted your casting right. Then, I figured, you deserved a true love’s kiss as much as Giselle.”

“Sap.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 8 Prompt: Frail

Nursey stood on the porch, watching Dex shovel the sidewalk and lay down the petsafe salt to keep them from refreezing and turning into a dangerous rink for those without skates. He took a sip of coffee, prepared earlier by Dex exactly to his taste, and huddled deeper into the scarf wrapped around his neck, crochet by Dex and given on his birthday the year before.

Dex finally completed the task and returned, stopping to stand next to him on the porch and check over the work. The snow had stopped, for now, his weather app said that four more inches were expected that afternoon. 

Without thinking, he murmured lines from a poem.

> And they, frail things had taken panic flight  
Down to the calm earth seeking peace and quiet.  
I went to bed and rose at early dawn  
To see them huddled together in a heap,  
Each merged into the other upon the lawn,  
Worn out by the sharp struggle, fast asleep.

Dex hummed in response. He was used to the fragments of remembered poems that would drift out of Nursey’s mouth. He’d stopped chirping about them. But then Dex surprised him by responding. 

> And suddenly my thoughts then turned to you  
Who came to me upon a winter’s night,  
When snow-sprites round my attic window flew,  
Your hair disheveled, eyes aglow with light.  
My heart was like the weather when you came,  
The wanton winds were blowing loud and long;  
But you, with joy and passion all aflame,  
You danced and sang a lilting summer song.  
I made room for you in my little bed,  
Took covers from the closet fresh and warm,  
A downful pillow for your scented head,  
And lay down with you resting in my arm.  
You went with Dawn. You left me ere the day,  
The lonely actor of a dreamy play.

Nursey gasped and turned to him. “Chill! I did not! We slept in until noon!”

Dex laughed and captured his mittened hand before leaning over and nuzzling their cold noses together and pressing a brief kiss to Nursey’s lips. “Take it up with Claude. He’s the one who wrote it.”

“I _know_ that. But you could have left off the last two lines to make it more accurate.” 

“Hm. Maybe. Or you could just write us a new poem. Something that doesn’t say we’re frail.”

Nursey sighed as he leaned into Dex’s side. It felt like their relationship should be frail and delicate, a tentative thing built on hopes and wishes. But Dex had never built anything frail and easily breakable. And Nursey had examined it from every angle to be sure the foundation was solid rock. They were built to last. 

“Sturdy. That’s us.” He was pretty sure that’s what he’d end up naming the poem, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The poem quoted is [The Snow Fairy by Claude McKay](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53213/the-snow-fairy)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 9 prompt: Swing

Dex shoved him and he went flying. 

Then he was falling.

He felt Dex’s hands grip his sides before he was shoved forward again. And again. And again.

Every shove from Dex increasing the height, the speed, the exhilaration as he flew through the air. 

Then he saw Dex off to the side, watching him as he flew by, back and forth. He leaned back and laughed. 

It wasn’t that he’d never been to a playground before. It wasn’t even that he’d never been allowed to swing on a swing set. He’d definitely done those things under the careful watch of his nanny. But that was just it, wasn’t it? Always under the watchful eye of a caretaker. Never allowed to swing as high as he wanted. Never allow to let go and fly through the air.

It had been a simple thing. He scored the first point between him and Dex, so he won their bet. Technically, Dex got the assist, so it probably should have been considered a tie, but Dex didn’t break promises and he considered the bet a promise. So, Nursey had told Dex that he had to come to the park with him and push him on the swing as high as he could. A simple thing. 

He reached the height of the backswing and seemed to float, weightless, in the air for a second. Dex stood just to the side, watching and smiling. Smiling in a way he rarely did when anyone was around. Then Nursey was falling through the air and flying up again and his stomach was left behind. 

He let go of the swing, launching himself forward. When he hit the gravel, he landed heavily and fell forward, trying to catch himself with his hands. He was probably actually lucky that they slid on the gravel after absorbing some of the shock, or they would have absorbed his entire weight as well and this not-date would end in the ER. That wasn’t an experience he wanted to repeat.

But then Dex’s hands were on him, and Dex’s voice was in his ear, asking if he was ok. He rolled over and looked up at Dex. 

“Aw, Poindexter. You worried?” He grinned but Dex just continued to check him for major injuries. 

“You landed on your feet and hands really hard. Can you wiggle your toes and fingers without pain? Is anything dislocated?”

“Chill, Poindexter. I’m fine.”

Dex finally seemed to believe him, sitting back on his heels and pulling out alcohol wipes and small single use antibiotic ointment packs and some bandages. “I think it’s just scrapes. Maybe you’ll bruise. I couldn’t find any iodine easy to carry in my pockets, so alcohol will have to do. Stop flinching.”

Nursey scowled as Dex dabbed at the scrapes with the alcohol but tried not to flinch away from the sting. “Why’d you bring a first aid kit?”

“Because I was going to be with you.”

“I knew you cared.”

Dex snorted and seemed to focus more intently on bandaging Nursey’s scrapes. “You probably only brought me out here so you could hurt yourself and blame me.”

“Nah. I brought you out here because I actually like spending time with you. And because I didn’t think you’d respond well if I asked you out on an actual date in front of the team.”

Dex was quiet for a long time and Nursey was starting to think that was his response, but finally he let out a deep breath. “Ok. But if it involves jumping out of or off of anything, you have to promise to learn how to land first.”

“Chill.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 10 prompt: Pattern

Nursey looked at his journal and cursed softly under his breath. 

At his therapist’s request, he was recording significant events in his day and his emotions in response to them. The goal was to make him cognizant of what things had a positive or negative effect on him. 

The _problem_ was how many times Dex’s name showed up in the journal. 

Because it showed up every day.

> Dex and I discussed gerrymandering and how it silenced the voices of the poor and people of color.  
Dex and I argued over the last cookie, but Chowder ate it while we were distracted.  
Got a text from Dex. Included a picture of a lobster with a photoshopped hockey stick.  
Dex and I wrestled on the couch for thirty minutes before Bitty threatened us with a wooden spoon.   
Dex and I were on fire during practice.  
I scored a goal and Dex had the assist thanks to his takeaway.  
Dex smiled when I brought him an orange and a muffin from the dining hall.  
Dex brought me a bubble tea for our Frog study sesh.

There was no way his therapist was going to not notice. Even on days when he didn’t see or hear from Dex, he noted it. Usually along with a frowny face.

He cursed again.

He knew this journal was supposed to help him figure out patterns.

He just didn’t expect the pattern to be plaid flannel.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 11 prompt: Snow

If anyone asked him, he’d deny it, but the truth was that snow at Samwell was better than snow back in NYC. It was better than the snow at Andover. Or anywhere else he’d been.

Partly, it was the fact that it didn’t turn to dirty slush right away. It took a few days because there were fewer people messing it up. Partly it was that he got to see his teammates from warm climates light up the first time they saw snow. 

But mostly, it was because, without fail and without dibs on the line, every single time it snowed, Dex went out in the freezing cold and shoveled the walks. Even when it had been a verified blizzard and the school was shut down and there was nowhere to go.

By itself, that was something worth making the snow better. Especially when Tango asked and he’d muttered a gruff, “Nursey falls enough when the ground _isn’t_ ice.”

But the thing that made it absolutely the best at Samwell, was that when Dex came in from shoveling the snow, he had to warm up. The exercise kept his blood flowing and made him sweat, but his hands and feet still ended up super cold. Which meant that Nursey could swoop in with blankets and wrap him into a cuddle puddle and he didn’t argue at all. 

Six feet of snow dropped the night before, which meant Nursey was currently wrapped around Dex with three blankets wrapped around both of them as they sat near the radiator. He’d made Dex a mug of cocoa, but it was set aside for the moment, so he wrapped his hands around Dex’s. 

“Not numb anymore are they? Painful? No frostbite?” He always asked the questions. An excuse to hold Dex’s hands for a few moments. 

Dex always completed the script. “No. They’re fine.” And then he’d squeeze Nursey’s hands to prove it. 

This time though, Dex didn’t stop squeezing. He kept holding onto Nursey’s hands and he shifted slightly into a more comfortable cuddle position. 

“If you’re really worried, you can check me for frostbite in the bungalow later.”

“Chyeah?”

“Ayuh.”

“Chill.”

Nursey pressed his nose to the back of Dex’s neck and smiled. He loved the snow at Samwell.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 12 prompt: Dragon

The first time Nursey met a dragon, he was five. He managed to make his way down to the basement and into the mechanical room. It was loud and it was hot and it was big. It was beautiful.

“Thank you for keeping us warm, Dragon.” 

He’d considered patting the dragon in appreciation. Dogs liked to be patted. Sometimes horses did too. But horses were dangerous to pat sometimes. And the dragon was even bigger, and hotter. He did not pat the dragon, and his au pair pulled him away from the room and told him not to go to the basement again. 

He learned that the dragon’s name was Furnace.

He was older when he met the roaring dragons that took riders to far off places. They were named Subway, Train, and Airplane. He knew by this point that calling them dragons would worry his parents and his au pair. But secretly, he still thought that they must be dragons. And quietly, he still thanked them for taking him safely where he needed to go.

No matter what movies and stories tried to claim, he always knew that dragons were not for fighting, they were friends.

When he met Dex, they fought almost immediately. Everything seemed to be at odds. But slowly, that first semester, they found their way to fit together into a friendship. And it was good. 

Looking back, from the remove of two years, he was surprised at himself for not noticing it sooner. Maybe he just needed the perspective shift of having Dex carry him home after he slipped and twisted his ankle. Maybe he needed to feel the warmth emanating from Dex’s chest against his arms. Maybe he needed to see the protective surety in his face. 

When Dex set him carefully into a chair, Nursey pulled him down and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Dragon.”

Dex just looked at him quizzically, but he didn’t pull away. “You’re weird, Nurse. I’m going to get some ice for your ankle. Do you want anything to drink while I’m in there?”

“Some cocoa would be great.” He grinned and pulled his arms away from Dex.

As Dex walked out of the room, Nursey saw him lift a hand to his cheek for a moment, and he smiled again, secretly to himself.

This dragon’s name was Dex. 

Nursey thought he’d keep him.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 13 Prompt: Ash

His shirt was ruined. 

Well, maybe not ruined. There was probably a cleaner in the city who could get the ash stain out. Will could probably get the ash stain out. 

But a hypothetical solution in the future didn’t help him now, when he was running late. And he couldn’t call Will to ask for advice, because he was late to meet Will. He needed to not be late to meet Will. But he couldn’t go to the restaurant with a giant ash stain on his shirt. 

So, he did the most sensible thing he could think of. He stopped at a store and bought a new shirt. Off the rack. It wasn’t what he wanted to be wearing, tonight of all nights, but it was better than a dirty, stained shirt that smelled of cigarettes. 

When he finally made it to the restaurant, Will just raised an eyebrow at him over his water glass. 

“Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s fine. They only asked me to leave five times. And only four of those were because they thought I was lying about my reservation and just planning to sit here sipping water all night.”

Derek tilted his head. “What was the fifth time for?”

“Unionizing the servers.”

“Chill. How’d you get them to let you stay?”

“I reminded them who’s name was on the reservation and hinted that if they ruined your proposal dinner plans then no one from the Nurse family would ever grace their establishment again. I didn’t order the wine. You know it’s all the same to me and I know you like to pick it out.” Will lifted a couple of fingers briefly off the table while looking over Derek’s shoulder.

Derek opened his mouth, but before he could respond to Will, the sommelier stopped at their table. Selecting a wine was usually one of his favorite parts of a nice dinner with Will, but he honestly wasn’t even sure what he ordered when the steward left. 

“How did you know that I’m going to propose!”

“Babe, I love you, you know this.” Will took Derek’s hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. “But you are not subtle. At all. I figured you knew I knew when I didn’t even try to talk you into a different restaurant.”

Derek stared with his mouth open for a moment. “It was suspiciously easy to get you to agree.”

Will raised his brows again and took another sip of water. “I just hope your plan wasn’t to have the ring on the dessert plate, because I already gave them a ring for that.”

“You? Ring? Uh, chill.” Derek took a few breaths to get his mind sorted. “No, you hate having people stare at you like that. I was gonna ask in the park after dinner. When we were alone. Why would you have them put a ring on the dessert plate?”

Will lifted his hand and kissed it. “Because you love attention.”

Derek blinked and then rolled his eyes. “Ok, you aren’t as observant as you think you are.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t love attention. I love _your_ attention.”

Will stared at him for a moment before the blush started creeping up his neck and he looked down smiling shyly. It was always great when he realized he could still have that effect. 

“Hey, Will?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we could just get dessert and skip to the walk in the park?”

“Ayuh. I’d like that.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 14 prompt: Overgrown

Nursey looked at Dex. 

Dex looked back.

“Well?”

“It’s the middle of nowhere.”

“Turns out, I like the quiet.”

“It needs quite a bit of work.”

“Chyeah, but nothing structural.”

Dex narrowed his eyes and Nursey grinned.

“Your uncle gave it a look over for me.”

“There’s not enough space for your books.”

“Poindexter. Chill. We both know you are dying to make some built-ins.”

“Am not.”

“Babe, I’ve seen your scrapbooks.”

“They aren’t scrapbooks! They’re… project idea journals.”

Nursey hummed and rocked on his feet.

“Fine. Maybe I have some ideas that could work.”

Nursey grinned.

“The backyard is completely overgrown. The only thing holding the blackberry brambles back is a forest of mint. They’re battling it out, but either way, we lose.”

“Raze it and salt it. IDC. Actually, I kinda like the look, so we could just leave them.”

Dex snorted.

Nurse raised a shoulder in acquiescence.

“You’re sure you actually like this house? You aren’t just saying that because you think it’s what I want?”

“I actually like this house. I actually want to live here.” He paused and tilted his head. “Maybe we’ll get an apartment in the city if I get too antsy being out here all the time, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think the quiet will be good for my writing.”

Dex sighed and stepped close to Nursey, wrapping an arm around his waist. Nursey took that as permission to tangle himself around Dex as much as he liked. Which, as usual, was as much as he could manage. 

“The backyard is seriously going to be a problem, though.”

“We can hire a professional. Do you have an uncle in landscape recovery?”

Dex sighed and leaned his head against Nursey’s. “Couple’a cousins.”

“We’re going to have a house, babe.”

“Ayuh.” 

Dex squeeze his waist and Nursey tried to suppress his giddiness into a more chill emotion.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 15 prompt: Legend

It started, as so many things do, with a brilliant plan. A brilliant plan that went wrong in ways Nursey couldn’t have foreseen at the time. 

It was a simple plan, really. If flirting with Dex was off limits, and all signs seemed to indicate that it was, then the next best thing was to annoy him. Which directly led to Nursey following Dex around campus, one arm slung over Dex’s shoulder, and reading/reciting poems in his ear. 

It was going fine; even better than fine. Dex had his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched, but he was blushing and occasionally looked over or smiled. He hadn’t told Nursey to stop yet. 

Which meant Nursey got to continue.

Then he read _Legend_ as they walked across the quad back to the dorms.

> The blacksmith's boy hung the rainbow on his shoulder  
instead of his broken gun.  
Lizards ran out to see, snakes made way for him,  
and the rainbow shone as brightly as the sun.  
All the world said, Nobody is braver, nobody is bolder,  
nobody else has done  
anything equal to it. He went home as easy as could be  
with the swinging rainbow on his shoulder.

He finished the poem and started to try to find another to read. He had to pick out the ones with the most unusual imagery so that William “not a poetry guy” Poindexter would think they were weird. 

“So, am I the blacksmith’s boy?”

Dex’s question surprised him and he almost dropped his book. 

“What?”

“That poem. The blacksmith’s boy with the rainbow swinging on his shoulder. I’ve got a rainbow swinging on my shoulder.”

Nursey blinked and looked back at his book. “Uh, chill. That’s _Legend_ by Judith Wright. She was a big social activist for Aboriginal rights, attending marches and stuff right up into her 80s.”

“Oh. Maybe she’s referring to Aboriginal culture things then. Only knew about Rainbow Serpent, not the Rainbow itself. Guess that means I’m not the blacksmith’s boy. You aren’t the rainbow.” Dex was quiet for a moment and they walked in silence.

Nursey’s arm was still over Dex’s shoulders and he thought maybe he should remove it.

“Got any other poems about bright, shiny, nice things on people’s shoulders?”

“Uh…maybe?”

Dex nodded. “Nice to think there’s a poem that describes this. Then reading it would make me remember.”

“Chill.” Nursey wasn’t sure what to say or do. This was uncharted territory. This was deep sea diving in the mariana trench. This was lunar farside. He paged through his book while his mind whirled. Then Dex’s words clicked into place and he stopped moving.

Dex continued another couple of steps, pulling out from under Nursey’s arm before stopping. He turned and frowned at Nursey’s arm before blushing more and scowling, looking off to the side. “Forget it. Didn’t mean nothing.”

“Yes, you did. You did mean something. You heard a poem about a boy feeling confident as he goes out into the world because he’s got things that make him feel safe, and then he sees those things as potentially dangerous too, and then he loses them regardless, but he keeps going and he grabs onto something bright and beautiful and positive and he holds onto that brightness and he feels even safer for it. You heard all that, and no matter what the poet meant, you heard all that and then you called yourself that boy and me that rainbow.”

“I said it was nothing, okay?” 

“That’s not nothing, Poindexter! That’s…” He trailed off and let his hands fall to his sides. “Can I kiss you?”

Dex stopped moving abruptly, before turning to eye him warily. “Why would you ask that?”

“Because I’ve kind of wanted to for a while, but, for the first time, I think maybe you would let me.”

Dex nodded briefly then muttered something that sounded like it included the phrase “wicked oblivious” before stepping closer and leaning forward to bring their lips together. 

It seemed like he only expected that light peck, his hands still shoved in his pockets. But Nursey had other plans, so he wrapped his arms through Dex’s and pulled him back in close, rejoining their lips in a soft, slow kiss. A kiss of promise. A kiss of possibilities. A kiss of potential.

Definitely best to save the deep and dirty kiss for when they weren’t still in the middle of the quad.

“Get a room!” 

Apparently, the other students weren’t aware of how he was restraining himself.

Dex pulled away before shouting, “OK!”

When he turned back to Nursey, he seemed a bit shy again. “I mean, if you want. I do have a room. We could go there.” 

Nursey grinned and slung his arm around Dex’s shoulder again. “Chill.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 16 Prompt: Wild

Nursey looked around the roof, but he didn’t see Dex anywhere. 

The party had gotten rather wild and the rooftop garden was packed with friends and friends of friends and people he didn’t know at all, all drinking and dancing and celebrating. It was wild in a way that synced with his soul. In a way that the kegsters at Samwell never were, though he couldn’t explain the difference when he’d tried. In a way that distinctly said it was the last day of Pride in New York City and the roof was full of NYC queer people who were feeling themselves, and seen, and strong.

And it was exactly the kind of wild that would have gotten under Dex’s skin. 

Nursey cursed under his breath. He’d told Dex that they didn’t have to come. That they could leave at any time if it was too much. He knew Dex was uncomfortable around Nursey’s rich friends. But Dex had assured him that it was fine. He shouldn’t have believed him, because Dex was nowhere on the roof.

He finally found Dex in the stairwell, staring blankly at his phone. 

“Hey babe, you ok?” He slid an arm around Dex and pulled him in close.

“Ayuh.”

“Too wild up there? You could have said something.” 

Dex snorted. “Speaking of wild. You know how the Sabres let their rights to sign me run out?”

Nursey paused. Of course he knew. Dex had been quietly freaking out about not getting signed and not having a job lined up. Suggesting that he could just stay with Nursey and not worry about it had not gone over well. “Chyeah?”

“I’ve been applying to jobs. But I just got a job offer a bit ago.”

“That’s great, babe!” 

“Ayuh. The thing is. How do you feel about Minnesota?”

“Chill. Never really thought about it I guess.” He stilled with his nose pressed behind Dex’s ear. “Wait. Minnesota? As in, the Wild? As in, you’re going to play for the Minnesota Wild? Chill, Dexy!”

Dex laughed and turned to catch his lips in a quick, dirty kiss. “Probably Iowa if we’re honest. But yeah. I guess I’m going to Minnesota.”

“We are, babe.”

Dex’s expression changed in an instant. “You’ve got stuff going here. I don’t expect you to pick up everything for me.” 

Nursey watched as his throat worked on a thick swallow and how he looked away while blinking. He used a knuckle to turn Dex’s face back towards him. “I can’t believe you’d be willing to go to Iowa just to get rid of me, but you aren’t getting rid of me that easily.” He smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Dex’s lips. “The Rangers or Islanders would have been better. I already have an apartment we could live in. But I’m a writer, babe. If Neil Gaiman can write in Minnesota, I’m sure I’ll manage it, too.”

Dex smiled and pressed back in close. “I love you.”

“I love you.”

“I kinda want to celebrate.” 

“Party’s right upstairs.”

Dex slid his hands into Nursey’s back pockets and his tongue into Nursey’s mouth in a horrendously filthy kiss. He finally broke the kiss to mouth over to Nursey’s ear and whisper huskily, “I was thinking something a bit more private.”

“Oh. Yeah. Chill.”

It took far longer to get down the stairs that it had any right too. But since the delays were all filled with kisses and touches, Nursey didn’t mind much.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 17 prompt: ornament

It was, honestly, one of his favorite traditions. 

Which was silly, because it wasn’t even his tradition.

His family’s Christmas tree was always professionally decorated to match a theme and display class. If he’d pressed, he probably could have had his own tree and decorated it as he pleased, or even just bought the decorations with no tree to put them on. But it had seemed pointless if they wouldn’t be used. 

Still, he liked to look at the ornaments each year. So when he and Dex were sent to pick up supplies, he stopped in front of the ornament section. It wasn’t a huge selection, and they were all pretty inexpensive. He could have just grabbed the hockey skates ornament and purchased it. But instead he traced a finger over the laces, and turned to move on. Buying something without purpose in front of Dex would probably lead to another argument, and they hadn’t had one in over a week. Besides, he still hadn’t convinced himself that buying ornaments with no tree made sense. And getting a tree for one ornament didn’t either.

“You want that ornament?”

Dex’s question surprised him, but he handled it well. One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “It’s no big deal. Don’t have a tree for it anyway.”

Dex stared at him with the same half confused, half grumpy expression that he normally had. Then he reached out and grabbed the ornament and put it in his basket. “Can go on my tree then.”

“Chill, Poindexter. You don’t have to get it just because I like it.”

Dex snorted in response. “You think pretty highly of yourself, Nurse. It’s just a tradition. That’s all. Get a new ornament for the tree every year. This year, you picked it out.” He shrugged and then continued down the aisle before Nursey could respond.

It would have just been a one off nice thing that Dex did. Except that the next year Dex asked Nursey to go to the store with him and once they were at the ornament aisle, he waited for Nursey to find one that he wanted (a pile of books), then he grabbed it and put it in his basket.

“It’s a tradition.”

Then their junior year, it happened again.

“It’s a tradition.”

By their senior year, Nursey loved the tradition of picking out an ornament to be added to Dex’s tree. This year would be even better because he’d been invited to the Poindexter house for the break and he could see what the full tradition created. So, he’d been quietly giddy when Dex picked up the typewriter ornament that he’d touched. (“It’s a tradition.”) And he’d had to be extra careful to be chill on the way up to Dex’s house. 

But then finally, he’d met Dex’s family and been introduced around, and he’d been shown the house. The tree was covered with old ornaments. Some clearly made by Dex and his brother when they were young. Some that seemed older than that. All of them handmade. None of the ones that he’d picked out with Dex. 

He looked at Dex questioningly, but Dex just avoided his gaze and blushed. 

“Come on, Nurse. You’re probably tired. I’ll show you up to my room.”

Clearly, Dex was trying to avoid the discussion, or at least avoid it in front of his family, so Nursey just nodded and followed him up.

Once he stepped into the room, he froze. On the dresser, there was a tiny artificial Christmas tree. Too small, really, to hold the three ornaments hanging from its branches, it was completely overwhelmed. Still, Dex set his bag down and then pulled the typewriter out of a pocket and carefully added it to the tree, making sure it didn’t fall over.

“Dex?”

“It’s a tradition, Nurse.”

“That looks like a tree just for the ornaments I pick out.”

“Ayuh. That’s the tradition.”

“Chill. If you can just start a tradition of buying me an ornament every year, then I’d like to start a tradition too.”

Dex sighed. “Yeah. Ok. What tradition?”

“That I kiss you every year after you put the ornament on the tree.”

Dex turned and looked at him with wide eyes. Nursey watched as he licked his lips and swallowed before responding. “Ayuh. Sounds like a fine tradition.”

Stepping close and wrapping himself around Dex, Nursey brushed their noses together before pressing his lips to Dex’s. When they finally broke apart, he grinned. “We’re going to need a bigger tree.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 18 prompt: Misfit

Nursey had always been a misfit. Caught between two cultures. A poetry nerd amongst the jocks of his high school hockey team. The only jock in the poetry club.

So, he was a misfit, but he practiced being chill, cool, unaffected. He created an image of himself as a bad boy. A man of mystery. The most interesting man at Samwell. 

And it was working really well. He had a fanclub. Poindexter didn’t even have a fanclub (if he didn’t count the taddies and waffles, and he didn’t). Chowder did, but Nursey couldn’t begrudge him that.

He ruse worked perfectly for two full years with no one on the team suspecting that he was just a misfit who didn’t really belong anywhere. Then he roomed with Dex and he had to ramp it up to keep Dex from figuring it out. 

Then Dex moved to the basement and it was fine. He only had to keep it up when the team was together. Or when the Frogs were together. So, pretty much only when he wasn’t sleeping.

Nursey groaned and dropped his head on the library table.

“You okay, Nurse?”

“Yeah. Just wondering how a misfit ended up friends with the cool group.” He didn’t mean to be overly honest, but what was done was done. Dex would chirp him and that would be it and maybe his traitorous heart would finally give up on the crush.

“Oh.” Dex’s voice sounded weird. “I didn’t realize you had a problem with me still. I can go. I’ll tell Chowder something came up. I won’t intrude.”

Nursey looked up to see Dex gathering his stuff. “Chill, Poindexter. What the fuck are you talking about?”

Dex lifted a shoulder. “I know I don’t fit in with you two. Or the team. It’s fine. I’m useful, you let me hang around. But you two are practically the core of the team now. You don’t need me trailing along. I get it.” 

“Poindexter. What. The. Fuck? I wasn’t talking about you. You’re the…” He trailed off and made a gesture with his hands. “Cool guy who knows shit about appliances and can change a tire and codes computers and wears flannel.” 

“Yeah, I get it, Nurse. I’ve had to work a lot of jobs. I can’t do interesting stuff like write a villanelle or sestina. I’m not confident enough to do your weird dances, even if you only do them when you think no one’s watching. I don’t have all your random ideas and imagination. I don’t have the hair or the face or any of-” He stopped short and gestured at Nursey.

“Wait. Are you saying you think I’m cool? Like, really think I’m cool? Me me. Not…” He gestured.

“Ayuh. Of course.”

“Oh. Chill.” Nursey stared at him for a moment trying to process the fact that Dex had actually seen behind the chill and still thought he was cool. Then a thought hit him. “Wait, did you say you think I’m attractive?

“Shut it, Nurse. You know you’re wicked attractive.”

“That’s way different than you thinking I’m attractive.”

“Ayuh. I’m leaving.”

“Wait, Dex! Do you _like_ me?”

“I don’t need to be chirped over this, Nurse. I know it’s stupid, okay.”

“Dex. Dexy. Poindexter. Chill. I’m not trying to chirp you. I’m trying to ask you out.”

Dex stopped and stared at him. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, ok then.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 19 prompt: Sling

Nursey adjusted the sling on his neck. It was irritating, but it wasn’t actually required other than they were making him wear it out of the hospital. Probably so that they could charge for it. As soon as he was in Coach Murray’s car he’d remove it. Or back at the Haus. Soon. 

Except when he got back to the waiting room, Coach Murray wasn’t there. Instead, Dex was sitting in a far corner, looking as tightly wound as ever. Dex jumped up when he saw Nursey.

“Released then? Do you have a prescription or anything? I think Walgreens or CVS is still open.”

“Where’s Coach Murray?”

“His wife called. One of the kids has a bit of a fever. Probably fine, but wanted their dad.”

“So, he called you to wait for me?” That didn’t make sense. Nursey was pretty sure Coach Murray would have had some sort of official responsible party wait for insurance purposes.

“No. He told Bitty to wait for you.”

“Oh. Chill. Bitty in the bathroom or something?” He looked around, trying to catch sight of the particular shade of blond.

“Bitty got a call from Jack and wanted to go back to the Haus to skype.”

“Oh.” Nursey blinked. That did make sense. Jack and Bitty were skyping a lot and with Jack’s schedule, Bitty took every moment he could get. “It was nice of you to agree to come up and wait so he could go back. Saves me calling an Uber.”

“Ayuh. Sure. You’re probably tired, so I’ll get my car.” Dex hunched his shoulders and started towards the door. 

Nursey couldn’t be completely sure, but he thought he heard Dex mutter “figure it out” as he walked off. He shrugged it off and followed Dex out the door and into the parking lot. 

“What are you doing, Nurse? I’m bringing the car around.”

“Chyeah. It’s my wrist that’s broken. My legs are fine. I can walk.”

Dex didn’t reply to that, but he did insist on dropping Nursey in front of the Haus before taking his car around to the lot where he usually parked.

Which meant that Nursey was the first one in their room. And Nursey was the one who saw the pie. And Nursey was the one who read the note.

> Dex-  
Thank you so much for saying I could leave to skype Jack. I know you said you were going to be waiting anyway, but I appreciate it, hon.  
-Bitty

When Dex finally arrived, Nursey couldn’t help staring at him. “You were waiting for me anyway.”

Dex looked at him, but his expression didn’t tell Nursey anything. “Ayuh.”

“You were worried?”

He didn’t think Dex was going to answer, as he took his shoes off and meticulously placed them in the closet, then changed into the shorts and t-shirt he wore to sleep. Finally, Dex turned to him. 

“I’ve spent a significant amount of time over the past two years worried about you. Why would tonight be any different? Do you want to switch bunks so you don’t have to climb with your arm?”

Things were getting pretty intense, so it was probably time to lighten the mood. “Nah, we can just share your bunk, Poindexter.” 

He expected a lot of things. A chirp. An eyeroll. An excuse for why they couldn’t. 

He didn’t expect Dex’s shoulders to tighten. “Fine. But you’re by the wall so you don’t fall out and rebreak your wrist.”

He hadn’t expected to get this far, but he wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass, so he quickly got ready for bed and climbed in, pressing all the way against the wall. 

Dex carefully joined him, laying on his side with his back towards Nursey. Even with the full size bunks that had replaced the previous twin size beds, Dex was pretty much right at the edge of the mattress. 

Nursey put his hand on Dex’s waist. “Don’t fall out. If we both have a broken wrist, the team will be hosed.”

“Right.”

He didn’t mean to speak out loud. Dex was trying to fall asleep and there was no real reason for Nursey to be thinking of Shakespeare in this situation, after such a long night. Maybe it was the medicine they gave at the hospital. Because if he had thought to think of Shakespeare while laying beside Dex, it would have been a sonnet, or nearly anything other than Hamlet.

“To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream.” 

He finally managed to clamp his mouth shut as Dex carefully turned himself over without falling off the bed or crushing Nursey. 

“To be, idiot. Always choose to be.”

“Doubt that the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move his aides, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love.”

“Love is begun by time, And time qualifies the spark and fire of it.”

Nursey was transfixed, watching the movement of Dex’s lips in the darkness, seeing only the silhouette.

“Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?”

“You’ve switched plays, Nurse.”

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

“That’s a different one again.”

Nursey took a breath and held it for a moment before letting it out. “Does it matter? The end is the same.”

Dex could pretend not to understand. He could claim not to know the plays and Nursey might believe him in the morning. But tonight, Dex had recognized the lines. Tonight, Nursey knew that Dex would understand he wasn’t saying that comedies and tragedies had the same ending. 

“Go to sleep, Nurse.” 

Nursey sighed quietly and withdrew. He pushed too hard, too far, too fast. But at least he could blame it on the meds.

“We’ll talk tomorrow when you aren’t on painkillers.”

Nursey reached out and rest his hand on Dex’s waist again. “Don’t fall out of bed.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 20 prompt: Tread

Derek didn’t swim. He’d never had a desire to learn. Lying on the beach, running in water up to his knees, splashing in the shallow end of pools, that was all fine and fun. But swimming wasn’t on his list of hobbies to take up.

It had been a sticking point with his father. His father had expected him to follow in his footsteps. Swimming or diving in winter and crew in spring. Squash would have been acceptable. But instead, he’d joined hockey and track and field and never went in water deeper than his waist. Where he could be sure he’d touch the bottom.

He wasn’t afraid of the water. He just felt no reason to float.

Then he started dating Will. Will, who he’d seen dive into the water and not resurface for over three minutes. Will, who’d worked on a boat since he was eight. Will, who loved to swim.

Will, who had never once pressured Derek into swimming. Will, who hadn’t chirped him for not wanting to go to the deep end even when they chriped each other about everything. Will, who spent entire trips to the beach lying on the sand with him (under an umbrella).

Will, who had asked him to marry him. 

Derek stared at the brochures on the table. Will, who apparently wanted to go swimming with sharks on their honeymoon.

Will walked up behind him and wrapped him in a quick hug with a kiss against his temple. “Welcome home, babe.” Then he scooped up the brochures and threw them in the recycling.

Derek stared after him blinking. “Why’d you throw those out?”

“That was my discard pile, babe. They’re all for diving excursions.”

“You like to swim.”

Will looked at him oddly. “I’d like to spend my honeymoon with my husband.”

Derek swallowed. “I could learn to tread water or something.”

“Of course you could. But if and when you do that it’ll be because you want to, not because I signed us up for some stupid diving excursion.”

Will finally sat down next to him and Derek flowed from his seat to be half in Will’s lap. 

“Besides. Then you’d have a whole new list of things to worry about.”

Will hummed and ran a hand up Derek’s thigh. “True. I’m sure we can find something to do to occupy our time.”

Derek grinned and shifted further into Will’s lap so that he could kiss him properly.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 21 prompt: Treasure

It was the moments that he treasured. Whispering together to plan Halloween costumes. Wrestling on the couch. Running his hand over Dex’s hair as they celebrated the pie that he made for Hausgiving. Running his hand over Dex’s hair as they got ready for a game of Shinny. Running his hand over Dex’s hair after a win. Sitting together on the bus. Sitting across from each other at the library. Sitting pressed together, shoulder to knee, while Bitty told them that he’d been dating Jack.

Just like that, all the moments that he’d treasured and carefully locked away in a chest in his mind came spilling out across his thoughts. 

Because if teammates could date, or at least date former teammates, then maybe….

Nursey caught up with Dex on the way back across campus. 

“Hey Poindexter. Where you goin?”

“Dorm. Got homework.”

Dex didn’t turn or change his posture from hunched over with his hand shoved in his pockets. Which. Nursey probably should return the gloves he borrowed the other week.

“Oh. Chill. I was going to ask if you wanted to go get some food.” He kept his voice casual. Chill. Nonchalant.

“Don’t, Nurse.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t ask me out just because they told us about them.”

“Chill, Poindexter!”

Dex stopped and looked at him. “I’m serious. Our memories should be our own to treasure. Not tied up with someone else’s milestones.”

Nursey blinked. “So, if I ask you out a different day?”

“Then I’ll probably say yes on the condition that there’s a spending limit.”

His eyes narrowed. “Probably?”

“Probably, Nurse. Took you a year and a half to get this far. Who knows how long it will take you to ask me out proper.” The corner of Dex’s mouth twitched up in a smirk.

“Rude.” There was no real heat to the word he huffed as he pulled out his phone and set a calendar reminder to ask Dex out the next day. “So, your dorm, huh? Sounds exciting.”

“Ayuh. Got homework. Like I said.” Dex turned to start walking but waited until Nursey fell into step beside him. “Wouldn’t mind company if you wanted to join.”

“Chill.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 22 prompt: Ghost

When Derek bought a house in the middle of nowhere, Maine, he had to accept some possibility of it being haunted. He thought he was prepared. He was wrong.

The first night there and already the house was full of cold spots, the lights were flickering, and he could hear what sounded like a woman sobbing. 

At first he was ecstatic. Living in a haunted house should provide endless material for his writing. Except it was always the same. Cold, flickering lights that gave him a headache, and the weeping that kept him up all night. The ghost didn’t even appear to him. 

Clearly, he would have to do the heavy lifting in this relationship.

So, he spent a couple of days in the tiny library in town going through old records of the local newspaper. He hasn’t realized that microfilche was still in use, but the attractive ginger who helped him load the machine had blushed and apologized that the digitization was still in process.

“That’s chill. I’m not sure what I’m looking for anyway. I’ll know it when I find it.” He’d grinned and gotten a small smile in return before he’d been left alone to scan through old articles on the machine. 

By the third day, it was difficult to keep an optimistic outlook and he was considering if he should just rent a room at the motel. The lack of sleep was starting to get to him.

He nearly missed the article about the sailors lost at sea and the widow who lived in his house decades before. 

“Chill!”

Hot ginger looked over at him with a raised brow and he smiled sheepishly. 

“Sorry. Just finally figured out who the ghost is at my house. Apparently, she’s the widow of a sailor that was lost at sea. Now maybe I can help her move on and then I can sleep.” He had to stifle a yawn after that statement.

Ginger’s brow was furrowed when Derek was able to refocus. 

“You bought the old Sanderson house?”

“Chyeah. Prime haunted house. Just didn’t expect the sobbing to keep me up all night. And could do without the cold spots and the flickering light too. Hard to write with that.”

Ginger’s expression went weird and Derek decided it wasn’t worth trying to figure out while he was this tired. 

“You gonna be there in a couple of hours? I could help fix that. If you don’t mind.”

Derek tilted his head and appraised the other man. He’d already determined the first day that ginger was hot, and that had definitely not changed. He’d also, very casually, scoped out that ginger wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. Though, that might not be proof of anything. But there was definitely a chance that “help fix that” was a euphemism. And even as tired as he was, Derek wasn’t one to look a gift euphemism in the mouth. 

There was just one problem.

“Chill. You’ve been helping me out all this week, but I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Oh, uh. Will. Will Poindexter.”

Derek grinned. “Well, Will, Will Poindexter. I’m Derek Nurse, and I’d love it if you came by and helped fix that.”

Two hours later, he was watching Will Poindexter rewire the light socket in his hall. 

“I’m sorry. I should have realized earlier that you’d bought this old place. They didn’t keep up with the repairs and maintenance. I’ll get it fixed up and you should be able to sleep tonight.”

Derek nodded mutely. If he’d thought Will was hot in the library, watching him rewire a light fixture (and then caulk all the windows, and then tighten all the pipe fittings and check for loose floorboards) really emphasized just how hot Will could be. 

He was starting to think he’d been wrong about the euphemism. 

“That should do it. But, yeah, if anything else comes up, just let me know. I’ll come take care of it so you can get a good night’s sleep.”

Derek stared at him. Now that had to have been a euphemism. “Chill. I should probably thank you for fixing my ghost problem.”

Will started to open his mouth, but Derek continued before he could speak. “I could take you out to eat. You eat, right?”

“Ayuh. That would. Yeah. Annie’s has wicked great pie. Finest kind.”

“Annie’s then.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 23 prompt: Ancient

Nursey slid into Dex’s chair with him and wrapped his arms around Dex’s waist. Dex hummed in response and adjusted his position so that Nursey could be more comfortable. Dex finished tapping out a few more keystrokes and then set his laptop aside while it did something before leaning back into Nursey’s embrace.

He nuzzled his nose behind Dex’s ear. “Did you know that I wanted to do this ever since I first saw you on the prospect tour?”

“Really? Even though I was, what was it again? Oh yeah, whack and up-tight?”

Nursey groaned. “Come on, that’s ancient history.”

“It was two months ago, Nurse.”

“Like, I said. Ancient history. Besides, it got Bitty to leave us alone.”

“Ayuh. I don’t think anyone’s even noticed that we haven’t been ‘fighting’ anymore since then.”

“Chill. Because if I kept having to compare you to the guys I knew at Andover, I was going to have to kick my own ass.”

Dex sputtered and started laughing in his arms.

“What?”

“Sorry. Just, the idea of you kicking anyone’s ass is wicked funny.”

“Chill!”

Dex turned in Nursey’s arms and gave him a look. “We both know you’re a lover, not a fighter.”

“I could be a fighter. I’m just so _good_ at being a lover.” He captured Dex’s mouth in a deep, slow kiss to illustrate his point.

“Ayuh. Pretty good. Could use some work.”

“Hey!”

“My code is going to be compiling for awhile if you want to practice.”

“Oh. Chill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can't prove they haven't been dating this whole time.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 24 prompt: Dizzy

Contrary to popular belief, Nursey didn’t get dizzy very often. Yeah, he tripped, he stumbled, he fell. Quite often, actually. But almost never because of being dizzy or drunk.

No, what Nursey was, was distracted.

The team thought it was a general distraction with lofty ideas and vivid imagery and poems and things. He let them. 

It was preferable to admitting he had a crush on a teammate. 

He took the chirps. Dizzy. Clumsy. A danger to himself and others. It was easy to take because he knew they weren’t true.

He just got distracted by the sight of burnished copper hair. Glinting amber eyes. Speckled sunkissed skin. The frown lines of someone trying to make sense of the world when it isn’t as expected.

And sure, maybe he’d written a few poems about it.

Dex took his hand. 

“Uh, Poindexter?”

“You have a broken wrist, Nurse. If you are going to continue to insist on staring at me instead of watching where you’re going, you can at least hold my hand to try to keep you from busting your ass on a patch of ice.”

“Oh, chill. That makes sense.”

Dex nodded once, but Nursey couldn’t tell if the pink on his cheeks was from a blush or from the cold. 

But it had to mean something. Surely it meant something. At the very least, Dex didn’t want him to get hurt again. So much so that he’d be willing to let people think they were together. Because no one else would know that Dex was only holding his hand to keep him from falling.

Just as he thought that, his feet slid out from under him. He had time to curse the irony in his mind before Dex’s arms were wrapped around him, pulling him back up and against Dex’s body. Dex skidded slightly before his boots found traction again and they ended up nose to nose.

“Thanks, Dexy.”

“Ayuh.”

Nursey’s gaze flicked down to Dex’s lips and back up. He shouldn’t kiss Dex. Dex was his line partner. Not his boyfriend.

Even if he did just keep Nursey from falling.

“Do you think you can stand on your own?”

“Probably safer if you just keep holding me.”

“Ayuh. Harder to get to the Haus though.”

“We could just stay here.”

“You’ll freeze.”

Nursey sighed and tested his footing. Once he was sure that he wouldn’t fall immediately, he pulled away from Dex. To his surprise, Dex resumed holding his hand.

To his even greater surprise, Dex didn’t let go when they got to the perfectly ice free walk in front of the Haus. Given that Dex was the one who shoveled and salted the walk, he should know it was safe. 

“Uh, Dex?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re still holding my hand.”

“You want me to stop?”

Nursey blinked. “Uh, no?”

“Ok then.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 25 prompt: Tasty

The first time Dex cooked for Nursey it wasn’t anything really special. Mac and cheese. He wasn’t even sure that Dex had done anything special or made it from scratch. It might have been out of a box for all he knew. It was, at its core, nothing special. 

Dex had said as much with a blush flaming on his ears. “Sorry, it’s not great. Usually I’d add lobster, but buying lobster…”

Dex had trailed off and Nursey had nodded like he understood. He was pretty sure that he _had_ understood.

Dex never cooked for the team. Not even random small things like cookies like Bitty would do sometimes. Occasionally, he’d help Bitty. Nursey would watch him moving around the kitchen like it was a familiar friend. But Dex never cooked by himself for anyone but himself.

And Nursey. Mac and cheese, probably out of a box. Cooked on a stove in the dorm common kitchen. Served in an off brand tupperware. Eaten with plastic cutlery liberated from the dining hall. 

Eaten with their thighs pressed together while sitting on Dex’s bed. 

It was delicious.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 26 prompt: Dark

Nursey was not afraid of the dark. It would be absurd for him to be afraid of the dark. He was a grown man. A large, hockey playing, strong, grown man. He wasn’t overly fond of the fact that he was what people tended to be afraid of in the dark. So, he tried to do his best to stay in well lit areas and look as non-menacing as a 6’2” 200lb hockey player can look. He tried not to surprise people by walking up when they don’t know he’s approaching. And when he could, he avoided going out after dark entirely.

But Winter Screw was at night and it ended in the dark. And he had to make sure his date got back to the dorms safe or he’d feel like shit. So, he was walking across the quad in the dark, trying to be as conspicuous as possible.

He still somehow managed to approach a group of the team without them noticing him. 

Then he heard Bitty giggle and saw him take a swig from a flask before passing it to Dex and it made a bit more sense. 

He was close enough to hear when Dex looked at the flask and muttered “Fuck Nurse anyway” before taking a swig and passing it to Shitty while trying not to cough.

He should have announced himself. He should have kept to the bright areas. He should have just turned and walked back to the freshman athlete dorms. 

Instead, he backed up into the shadow of a tree and watched. 

Because he hadn’t seen Dex drink except for at Hazeapalooza. 

It wasn’t much longer before the group that lived at the Haus headed off and Dex started across towards the dorms. 

“You always lurk in the shadows, Nurse.”

That seemed like a good cue to step out and walk beside him. “Almost never.”

Dex nodded. “People get scared of me at night. Daytime too. But especially at night.”

“Chyeah.”

“Shoulda joined us. Shitty had a flask.”

“I saw. Didn’t want to drink.”

Dex snorted but Nursey didn’t comment on that. 

“You should get back to your date, Nurse. I’m fine. I didn’t drink that much.”

“Already dropped her off. It’s chill. Wasn’t my type anyway.”

Dex nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Ayuh. Wicked lot of that going around.”

“Sorry I set you up with the wrong kind of girl.”

“She was fine. Just no right kind of girl.” Dex heaved a sigh. “It doesn’t matter. No one was going to match up with who I wanted to go with. I should have just not gone.”

“Oh chill. You should have told me you had someone in mind. I would have set you up with them. I really wasn’t trying to screw you over.”

“Doesn’t matter. I told Chowder, but you already had a date. This is my building. Night, Nurse.”

Nursey watched as Dex used the card reader to enter the dorm building and disappeared inside, leaving him alone in the dark. 

Alone with the knowledge that Dex had wanted to go to Winter Screw with him. 

Alone with the knowledge that his crush wasn’t unrequited after all.

He pulled out his phone and set an alarm for the morning. He needed to ask Dex out to brunch.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 27 prompt: Coat

Nursey scrunched his neck so that he could burrow into the neck of the coat and the soft scarf wrapped around him. He’d realized years before that sometimes you had to suffer for fashion. Maybe he didn’t as much as those wearing womenswear, but still. It wasn’t always comfy to look good. To look cool.

He had no regrets about buying the wool peacoat. He had no regrets about buying the thin wool scarf. 

He had looked stunning when they left the Haus.

Halfway across the quad, he’d been freezing to death and shivering so much that he couldn’t hear himself think. 

Dex had sighed and stopped, stripping off his own coat and scarf and insisting on a trade. Insisting that his flannel combined with the wool peacoat would be enough to keep him warm.

Nursey was pretty sure Dex had been lying. But Dex wasn’t shivering. He could tell because he’d thrown an arm over Dex’s shoulders just to be sure Dex didn’t get too cold. 

And Nursey was enveloped in warmth and the smell of Dex.

And Dex was wearing Nursey’s peacoat and hipster scarf and looking…. He considered a few words, tossing them out as too crude, too fancy, too wrong for Dex. Dex looked amazing. That’s all there was to it. 

Nursey had no regrets about wearing his wool peacoat and thin hipster scarf when he left the Haus that day.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 28 prompt: Ride

Ride or die. Nursey had a complicated history with the phrase. It always seemed like something so easy to claim. Friends assured him that they were ride or die, but when things hit the fan, when he needed support, they were never around. It’s not like he actually expected someone to die for him. But having his back would be nice.

At Samwell, there was constant reassurance that the team has his back. And they tried. They did. If anyone had started something physical with him, they would have backed him up, no questions asked. If anyone said anything overtly racist, the team would have shut it down. And just in general, it was nice to not be the only black guy on the team anymore. Even if Ransom’s experience was different.

There was no question about it. His friends at Samwell were better than his friends at Andover had ever been. 

But he still didn’t believe that people were actually ride or die for him.

That was fine. He was used to being more committed than other people. He was used to caring more and pretending that he didn’t so he didn’t drive people away. It was fine.

Besides, even if the team did have his back like that, none of them were poetry guys. None of them were majoring in English Language and Literature. None of them could help save him from the fact he’d signed up to take Readings in Comparative World English Literatures, Poetry Since 1950 and Reading Poetry For Craft all the same semester. He’s pretty sure he would have been fine with his study groups, except that apparently Reading Poetry For Craft was being changed to a 400 level course the next year and they’d already ramped up the requirements. And he knew it wouldn’t get better because when he’d shown his planned course schedule to his advisor, she’d replied “I know you love English, but why do you hate yourself?”

He was drowning in readings, analysis, and writing his own works. 

His bullet journals weren’t stopping him from confusing the requirements of the different assignments. 

His poems kept coming out with the wrong meter or rhyme scheme.

Then Dex handed him a flash drive.

“It’s nothing really. Just like a digital version of your bullet journals. And a way to organize your assignments. And I’ll probably have to tweak the algorithm on rhyme scheme and meter because I just fed it information I found online about the differences in the types of poems. But I tested it with a few poems I found online and I think it should work as a quick check? Like grammarly but for poems or whatever.”

Dex had yawned at that point and then blushed before nodding once, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking off.

Dex was right. The program didn’t do anything that Nursey couldn’t have done on his own. But it freed him up. It caught simple mistakes when he was sleep deprived and kept him from compounding them. It made simple tasks more efficient. It reassured him that he hadn’t missed something small. 

It was a nice thing that Dex did with his homework that was helpful for Nursey. It made him happy to think that Dex considered him a good enough friend to focus his homework on making a helpful tool for Nursey.

He mentioned it in his writing group. 

Which is when he learned that Systems Programming was not what he thought it was and had nothing to do with making a program like Dex had made for him. Out of five other people in his group, one was dating a computer science major and another was rooming with one. Apparently, they were both shocked that someone taking Systems Programming had time to do anything else, much less program an entire software application to make Nursey’s life easier _and_ keep up with practice and games. That was when he learned about the 40 hour problem sets. 

No wonder Dex had looked so tired at morning practice this semester.

When Dex wasn’t at team dinner, Nursey got a to-go plate and headed to Dex’s dorm.

The bags under Dex’s eyes had bags. “Hey Nurse. I’m right out straight. Got a problem set due tomorrow. Can we hang another time?”

Nursey held up the plate. “Yeah. I uh, I heard that systems is a killer. Thought you could use some fuel.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“Chyeah.” He should just leave it at that and go, but he couldn’t seem to make himself turn. He rocked on his feet. “I just wanted to thank you. For the program you made me. It’s been mad useful. And I know you took time away from your systems homework. So chill. Thanks. No one’s been ride or die for me like that before. You’re a good friend, Poindexter.”

Any other day, any day when Dex had had sufficient sleep and wasn’t running on caffeine and spite, and the twitch never would have dared to appear on his eye. Nursey was sure of it. Nursey was also sure that the involuntary response to being called a friend wasn’t because Dex hated Nursey. No one takes time away from their own work to help someone they hate.

“Chyeah. So. I know you’re busy tonight, but maybe when you aren’t busy, I could take you out to dinner. As thanks. For the program.”

Dex looked at him for a long moment. “Ok. That’s…. Yeah. We can do that. That would be nice.”

Nursey was about to finally get around to awkwardly saying goodbye and going back to his dorm to freak out, when Dex turned and looked at his computer and then back to Nursey. 

“Listen, I have to concentrate a lot on this problem set, and I talk to myself sometimes while I work, but if that won’t bother you, I mean, like, you could do your class readings here if you want?”

Nursey grinned. “Chill. Sounds awesome.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 29 prompt: Injured

Nursey was twenty the first time he was injured playing hockey. He knew hockey was a dangerous sport. He knew people got injured all the time. He never expected it to happen to him.

At Andover because he was young and just never thought about it.

At Samwell because he knew how grumpy and worried Dex got at the mere possibility of him being sick or injured and he figured the universe wouldn’t want to risk the wrath of an angry Poindexter.

Then he fell and broke his wrist.

The universe was not destroyed by an angry Dex.

Everything pretty much went on as it had before. He still had classes. He didn’t have to dress out for practices or games, but he still went and helped Ford. He still shared a room with Dex. 

Dex did change. Dex didn’t grumpily tell him to watch out for things anymore. (His rate of head-on collisions with walls had increased dramatically.) Dex didn’t talk to him much at all anymore. Which was, strictly speaking, unacceptable.

So, Nursey made sure Dex had to talk to him. He left clothes around the room. He claimed he was cold and adjusted the thermostat. He climbed into bed and then asked Dex to hand him his things, one at a time. 

Dex just grit his teeth and complied, with only minor comments to indicate that Nursey was being a bad roommate.

Which was an understatement. Nursey was being a terrible roommate and he was doing it on purpose and it still wasn’t getting enough of a reaction from Dex. 

He played his music too loud while Dex was studying. He left pie under Dex’s bed for two weeks. And ultimately, he referred to his injured arm as much as possible.

That was nearly the only time Dex looked like he might crack. 

Still, Dex never exploded. 

Looking back, he should have realized what would happen. Dex didn’t unleash anger at the world, even when the world had given him reason to be angry. The largest expression of anger he’d ever shown was throwing his helmet into an empty room. 

And then, he hadn’t been angry at the world. At the refs. At his team. Only at himself.

Watching Dex implode and march down to the basement, it occurred to Nursey that Dex wasn’t angry at the universe for Nursey getting injured. He wasn’t even angry at Nursey for having the audacity to get injured. Or the audacity to call it a sports injury.

Dex was angry at himself. 

And that. That could not be allowed to stand.

He followed Dex to the basement.

“What the hell, dude?

“Leave me alone, Nurse.”

“Nah. Because I finally figured it out. You aren’t mad at me.”

“Ayuh. I am wicked mad at you.”

“No. You’re mad at yourself. I wanna know why.”

He managed to hop up onto the dryer so that he could use it as a seat while staring Dex down. Calmly and clearly indicating that he wasn’t going to try to intimate Dex or get in his personal space, but he wasn’t going anywhere either.

“Why would I be mad at myself? What could I have possibly done that I’d be upset about?”

“IDK, bro. But, last time you were this mad at yourself was when we lost the final game of the Frozen Four.”

“It was a rhetorical question, Nurse. I know. Okay. Just. Just leave me alone. Just stay away from me.”

“Why would I do that?” He scratched at his hand under the edge of the cast. He was really curious about Dex’s response, but sometimes it itched under the cast.

Dex turned and stared at him before gesturing at his hands. “So you don’t get injured, dumbass.”

Nursey frowned and stopped scratching his hand. “Wait. You think this is your fault?”

“You turned because I yelled at you about crashing the boards.”

“I turned because I was trying to flirt with you and that’s best done when I can see you blush after.”

“You…. Wait. You what?”

Nursey shrugged a shoulder. “I shouldn’t have been trying to climb the wall anyway. No one climbs over going in. That’s a quick way to injure someone on the bench. I should have realized that I’d skated to the door, like we always do. Coach Murray should have not stepped out of the way and should have caught me. It was an accident and none of it was your fault.”

“You were trying to flirt with me?”

“Chyeah. You would have ignored me, like usual. Or brushed it off. It’s chill.” He gave his best chill smile.

“Wait, you were seriously actually flirting with me all this time?”

Nursey nodded. He’d been pretty clear.

“You weren’t just chirping me?”

Nursey made a face and shook his head. “I was pretty clear in my intentions.”

“The fuck you were.” Dex sat down on the ground and ran his hands through his hair a few times.

His hand was still itching, so he tried to scratch it again. This time, he found an old hanger nearby that someone had left and he slid it under the edge of the cast to see if it would reach the itch.

“Ok. So. Ok. You were really flirting. Does that mean, if I asked. Would you maybe.” He stopped and cleared his throat. “Would you like to get dinner tomorrow?”

Nursey froze with the coat hanger halfway out of his cast and slowly looked up at Dex with wide eyes. “Uh. Yeah.”

“Ok.” Dex nodded and took a deep breath. “I’m going on a date with Derek Nurse. And I’m definitely moving to the basement.”

That made Nursey frown. “Chill. But you don’t need to. I’ll stop being a bad roommate. You can come back upstairs and then. We can… be roommates, and maybe boyfriends?”

Dex shook his head. “No. I mean, yes to the boyfriends thing. Especially if tomorrow goes well. No to the upstairs thing.”

“Why not?” His expression was morphing into a full on pout, but he kept himself from whining.

Dex snorted. “How many times have you heard Chris and Cait have sex since we moved into the Haus? Ollie and Wicky? Hell, Jack and Bitty and Jack doesn’t even live in this city.”

“A lot.”

“Yeah. A wicked lot. And if, when, we have sex, I’d rather it be between us. Not everyone else’s business.”

Nursey tilted his head while he considered that. “Ok. You make a good point.”

“And if I build a little bungalow down here, I can make sure it’s well insulated, and soundproof.”

“You make an excellent point.” He looked down at his hand. “Hey, babe?”

Dex made a weird noise and Nursey looked up to find him blushing. 

“I can call you babe, now, right?”

“Ayuh. That’s fine.”

“Ok, babe, can you help me get this coat hanger out of my cast?”


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 30 prompt: catch

The first time a serious partner ended things with Nursey, his mom reassured him that there were plenty of fish in the sea. This would have felt much more reassuring to him if he’d ever fished in his life, or had any desire to fish.

Still, he tried to take the metaphor to heart. Each time a relationship ended, he reminded himself. There are plenty more fish in the sea.

Maybe it was working, because after his last breakup, he wasn’t nearly as upset as he thought he’d be. He’d messaged the Frog Group Chat for support, sure. But when Chowder had been unavailable, he had taken it in stride. 

When Dex had shown up at his door, he’d been nonplussed. 

Still, hours later, they were laying in a blanket fort with their heads together and their feet sticking out opposite ends of the fort, staring up at the blankets. The remains of many sugary snack packages littered around them with the promise to not tell the coaches.

Nursey sighed. “Thanks for coming over. I know I just need to move on. Plenty more fish in the sea, right?”

Dex snorted. “Maybe before commercial fishing and unsustainable practices.”

Nursey blinked and turned to look at the side of Dex’s face. He really couldn’t be taking the metaphor literally, right?

“I mean, I don’t know if the islanders would have done better at conservation on their own. Fishing’s different from lobstering. But we had sustainability practices in place for generations before they were made law. You throw back juveniles, they’re too young. You throw back berried females. You throw back the big ones. Keep having Maine lobster that way.”

“It’s not-”

“But sometimes, you catch one of those big sons of guns. You get to hold him just for a bit. And you know you gotta throw him back. He’s not meant for the likes of you to catch and keep. Maybe you get a selfie to remember.” Dex sighed. “Sometimes, it’s not a matter of how many fish or lobster are in the sea, Nurse. It’s a matter of catching them at the right time. It’s a matter of being the right person to catch them.”

Nursey stared at Dex’s profile, barely daring to breathe. It hadn’t occurred to him that he wouldn’t be the fisherman in the metaphor. That he might be considered the prize catch. And he knew why he wasn’t upset about his relationship ending. It had been time. 

“Dex?”

“Yeah?”

“Measure again.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 31 prompt: Ripe

Derek heard the garage door open and quickly shut the door to the kitchen, leaning back against it casually. A few moments later, Will appeared and he grinned.

“Hey babe. Welcome home.”

Will smiled in response and slid easily into Derek’s arms for a hug and kiss. “Did you have a good day?”

“Chyeah. Went to the farmers’ market. It was nice. Honeycrisp apples are ripe finally.”

“Great. Actually, I was gonna get some water, do you want to eat an apple now before I cook dinner?”

Derek smiled again and made sure he was fully blocking the door. “Chill. Sounds good. First, you love me, don’t you?”

“Of course, babe.” Will paused and his brow wrinkled. “Wait, am I reassuring you or reminding myself?”

Derek grinned harder.

“Derek, can I go in the kitchen now?”

“Ok. Since you love me.” He moved a bit out of the way. Just enough that Will could reach around him to open the door and slide past if they pressed close together.

Will sighed. “What happened?”

“So, the Honeycrisp were ripe. But then I got to talking to the lady at the stall and they also had Sansa apples which are apparently an excellent dessert apple with good keeping quality, and they had Prima apples which are called the spice apple, and they had William’s Pride which of course I had to get, and-”

“How many varieties?”

“Forty-eight.”

“And you got a basket of each.”

“Well, two baskets of Honeycrisp, but yeah.”

Will nodded. “At least it’s not another alpaca.”

Derek relaxed with a genuine smile. “That reminds me, I should go visit Bertie sometime.”

“You could go tomorrow. While I apparently make 50 apple pies.”

“Nah. Can’t tomorrow. They’re going to deliver the trees tomorrow.”

“They’re what now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done! only a day late. :D

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumbls at [SexyDexyNurse](https://sexydexynurse.tumblr.com/).


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